What is the Family Bridges Program?

June 29, 2017 by Robert Franklin, Esq, Member, National Board of Directors, National Parents Organization

One of the most alarming aspects of Cara Tabachnick’s attempt to cast aspersions on the reunification program Family Bridges is her blithe acceptance of parental alienation and its shocking effects on children. After all, reunification programs generally have one aim – to reunite alienated children with their targeted parent. The hope is that doing so will help salve the psychic wounds inflicted by the alienating parent. PA is child abuse. Family Bridges and other reunification efforts try to ameliorate its harmful effects.

To most people, I suspect, that would seem a worthwhile goal, but Tabachnick isn’t “most people.” Nowhere in her article does she address the all-important question, “If Family Bridges isn’t the answer, what is?” It’s one thing to criticize a program, and my guess is that Family Bridges isn’t the final answer on how to deal with severely alienated kids, but to entirely fail to offer any better alternative calls into question Tabachnick’s motivation. That failure strongly suggests that Tabachnick would be perfectly content to allow alienating parents to continue their abuse and tell kids “It’s your tough luck; we won’t lift a finger to help you.” Certainly she never suggests an alternative.